Posts
M/MLA, November 8-11, Cincinnati, OH
Travel Writing/Writing Travel
Topic: The Debts of Travel
Travel is liable to produce financial debt, as travelers incur expenses far beyond those of their ordinary lives. But what of the less literal indebtedness that is inherent in the process of traveling? This panel seeks to explore the ways that travel leaves traveling subjects variously indebted. For example, they may be emotionally indebted to traveling companions or to individuals they encounter who help them along their way. They may return home ideologically changed, forever indebted to new cultural experiences and the sense of difference that is endemic of travel. Travelers may leave something of themselves behind and experience travel debts as a kind of loss; or they may experience the process of becoming indebted as freeing themselves from previous restrictions. Proposals may consider any aspects of how travel is predicated upon or results in various forms of indebtedness, whether in travelers or in the people/cultures they encounter. Proposals for perspectives on travel from any historical/literary period welcome, and those from Victorian studies are encouraged. If you, or a particularly promising graduate student of yours, are working on relevant Victorian material, please apply! Inquiries are welcome.
Please send 300-word abstracts by April 15 to Andrea Kaston Tange, Eastern Michigan University, akastont@emich.edu.
For more information on the conference itself, please see: http://www.luc.edu/mmla/annualconvention.html
